you think, oh, this is a movie, this is a tv show, this isn't real life. >> i woke up in the middle of the night. i got up and opened the door, and that's when i found her. >> after that door opens, nothing will be the same. >> she was cold. there's nothing colder than a dead body. one of the detectives was yelling in my face, me a [ bleep ] murder in my face over and over. >> stuffed in the closet fold up with us his partner. >> did you put andy in the closet? don't sit there and deny things that were so obvious that are obviously not true. >> if i admit to what happened i

would have to know what happened. >> he finally lapses into this sort of dream state. >> it's all very hazy as just an image. i see me holding her. i see me holding her, and she slips out of my hand. she goes down to the floor. >> you wrote, i keep saying come back. she's dead. for the person hoout there who might be watching this saying, why in the world would you write this down? >> i was broken. and that's when i realized, they have been lying to me the whole time. arlington 911. what is your emergency? >> i need an officer. >> what's going on? >> i thought my girlfriend was missing. i hadn't seen her. i think she's dead.

>> you think so? >> yeah. >> why? >> in the closet. she's laying over on her side. she's cold. >> this story begins in 1998 with a chilling 911 call made from inside a two-bedroom condominium in arlington, virginia. >> what's your name, sir? >> james christopher johnson. >> and what is her name? >> andrea cincotta. >> andrea cincotta and chris johnson are a low-key, quiet couple. certainly an unlikely pair to be at the center of this story. >> these were two people just going about their normal lives. and you wouldn't think that people like this would end up in a story as bizarre as this. >> so, andrea was a librarian. she worked at the arlington county library for years. >> she really loved her job, and

you can see that shine through in those photos of her taken at the library. >> she loved words. she loved books. andi loved reading. >> she was a small woman, about 5'1", 100 pounds soaking wet. >> she loved to swim. she went swimming most mornings at a high school pool. >> she had a lot of friends. >> she was very sweet and also funny. when you talked to her, there was a kind of exuberance. >> chris was working at home depot. >> chris johnson had a background in engineering. he had worked in construction and contracting. >> chris is my brother. chris was the brains in the family. he thrived on science and math. >> he's very unassuming. he's very sweet. he's the first person that offers to help you.

>> he is a normal dude. he's honest, he's decent, he's hardworking, can be a little awkward. >> to someone who doesn't know you, how would you describe yourself? >> i'm just me. i like building things. i work in construction. i like fixing things. >> andrea, but most friends alled her andi, and chris met on labor day in 1988. they actually lived in the same apartment complex. >> they met in an elevator. she was going to swim, and he was going to work. >> it was really just "hi." but there was one time she got her bike out, took it in the elevator, and i would go biking too, so we ended up just going on bike rides up and down the trail. >> when did your connection with andrea turn into something more? >> she came over and wanted to

borrow a cup of sugar. the relationship progressed from there. >> so, at what point did you fall in love? >> definitely right after the -- she came over. i was pretty much sure that i wanted to spend my life with her. she was wonderful, absolutely wonderful, smart and caring. >> when they met, andrea was 42 and chris was 26. >> now, there was about 16 years between the two of you, your ages. were there any issues with that? >> not at all. >> no? >> not at all. i thought she looked great. and we looked similar in age. my gray hair started when i was 17. everyone thought we were the same age and it made no impact or a difference to us.

>> now, she had a son, kevin, from a previous marriage. how old was he when you met him? >> 15. >> how was your connection with kevin early on? >> i think it was great. kevin's great. i've got some interesting stories where i was teaching him how to drive. >> chris got along well with andrea's son, kevin. chris and andrea seemed to have a great loving relationship. >> we got engaged july 1991. >> they moved together to colonial village. it's a condominium complex in arlington, virginia. ♪ >> arlington, virginia, is right next to washington, d.c. >> it's directly across the river. very well-to-do suburb of d.c. >> and while it's right near

such a busy city, it has a bit of a small town feel. >> quiet, convenient. >> chris and andrea were building another home together a few hours away in virginia. >> we were building our dream house. it was something we were doing together. we designed it together, built it together. she had her own set of tools. >> so you guys were actually physically doing the work? >> yeah. cutting the trees down, digging up the stumps. >> sounds like it brought you closer together. >> it did. absolutely. >> so, i want to take you to august 21st, 1998, the day that everything changed. how did the day begin? >> as usual. i went out to work, and i said goodbye to her. she was getting ready to go out to the pool. >> andrea had the day off work and made plans to meet a friend for lunch after swimming. >> what happens then? >> i go to work. i ended up having to work late.

>> you called her a few times. >> i called and left messages on the machine. she didn't pick up. >> of course there was no texting in those days new york instant answers, so people were used to leaving answering machine messages and waiting to hear back. >> hi, it's me. it's about 2:15. looking to try to get home about 5:30. if you want, you can go ahead and give me a call. >> they had plans for the night. they were going to go see a movie. >> we can confirm whether we're going to the movies or running a video. otherwise, i'll see you tonight. love you, bye. >> chris then gets delayed at work, so he called and left another message. >> it's after 5:00. i have to pick up a couple things, and i'll be on my way. it'll probably be after 5:30 till i get there. i thought i was going to be home at this time, and then that got delayed, so it's like, okay, i'm going to be home a little bit later. hi, it's me. it's 5:39. i've left home depot.

i'm on my way home, but i'm going to get gas. i will see you in a little while. bye. >> so what happened when you came home? >> i got home and she wasn't there, and i was like, okay. the day before, she had told me that there's a good chance she wouldn't be home because one of her good friends had a son-in-law who had a brain tumor, and he was fading fast and her friend would have needed andi to babysit their 2-year-old daughter. and that woman had left a message on the machine. >> andi, it's judy. i'm at home. we have some bad news. give me a call. >> so it was like, okay, well, andi's babysitting the 2-year-old. >> while you were waiting, what were you doing at home? >> i did some laundry, had a little bit of a snack, watched tv. >> chris said it got to be about 10:00 p.m. before he became worried enough to actually start making phone calls, and the

first person he reached out to was that friend judy. >> i called and was like, "just looking for andi, could you give me a call?" i actually called the hospital, seeing if there was anyone admitted with the name andrea cincotta and they said no. i called kevin, left a message. >> so it sounds like you were concerned but not alarmed, not worried that something had happened. >> no. >> at 11:30 p.m., chris says he started getting tired, so he lays down to go to sleep in the bedroom. >> so chris woke up and he noticed that the closet door was closed, and it was often left open, so he went in. >> i got up and opened the door. and that's when i found her. >> after that door opens, nothing will be the same. >> she is cold to the touch then?

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chris johnson is asleep in the bedroom he shares with his fiance, andrea cincotta, waiting for her to come home. >> i woke up in the middle of the night, and i look over -- i'm sort of looking at the wall. >> it's 1:37 a.m., and he realizes andrea is not there. and he notices something different in the room. >> he realizes that the closet door is closed, and the closet door is not normally closed. >> usually i see the white wall and the black for her closet, and i didn't see that other black, so it's just like -- >> so, he goes over to look in the closet. >> i got up and opened the door. and that's when i found her.

i reached out, i touched her shoulder, and she was cold. there's nothing colder than a dead body. >> stuffed way back in the closet, folded up, was andi cincotta, his life partner. >> she's on the floor of the closet laying on her left side surrounded by clothing. >> i ran and called 9-1-1. >> arlington 911. what is your emergency? >> i need an officer. >> what's wrong? what's going on? >> i thought my girlfriend was missing. i hadn't seen her. we were supposed to go out tonight, but i figured i'd give her some time. uh, i think she's dead. >> you think so? >> yeah, in the closet. the door was closed. i didn't look in the closet. she's laying over on her side. she's cold. >> chris explains that he's been waiting for andrea and he assumed that she would come home later. >> so you were supposed to go

out tonight and she didn't call you? >> well, we've been living together for seven years. >> mm-hmm, okay. >> this is not -- it wasn't like her at all. >> so, you were out then, and you just came home and found her? >> no, i got home at 6:00. i did my laundry. she must have been in the place the whole time, but i just didn't look in the closet. the closet door was closed. >> he tells the dispatcher that there did not appear to be a forced entry. >> when you came home tonight, did anything look strange when you came in the apartment? i mean, did it look like the lock was messed with or anything? >> the door dead bolt was not locked, but the doorknob was locked. >> okay, so the dead bolt was not? >> yeah. >> okay. whole time. >> the 911 operator kept me on the phone until i heard the sirens. >> you hearing any sirens or anything? >> yeah, i can hear them. >> they should be there any minute, okay? >> as all this is happening, how are you processing it? >> i was in a state of shock. i guess i really hadn't totally processed she's gone, even

though she was dead. i just, i guess, blocked that out or wasn't dealing with that. i was just trying to -- what's the next thing i got to do? >> he tells police he's noticed that $107 of coins, a gym bag, and two of andrea's purses are missing. also missing, her car and car keys. police issue a lookout for the car to all units. >> within the hour, after the police get there, they take him to police headquarters and start questioning him. >> whenever you have a case where somebody's partner dies, the partner's always going to be somebody who the police focus on. >> there is no audio or video of that first night of questioning, but chris says he remembers it vividly. >> what do you recall most about that first night of questioning? >> one of the detectives was yelling in my face, and it seemed like that was going on for hours and hours, and i was telling him, no, no, i didn't do it. >> what specifically were they yelling at you? >> he was callg me a [ bleep ]

murderer, over and over again in my face. a [ bleep ] murderer. >> over and over. >> over and over, hours on end. >> were you angry at the police for subjecting you to questioning at that point? >> no. i was trying to help them. i wanted them to figure out what happened. i wanted to know what happened. >> they question him till 8:00, 9:00 in the morning. he denies having anything to do with her death, and they let him go. >> i went to andrea's father's house to tell him his daughter was dead. i'm driving up the road back from his house, and i see a car that looks like hers. and then as i'm passing, that's her license plate, and i'm like, that's her car. i immediately slam on the brakes, pull over on the shoulder, and i call the police. i said, you're not going to

believe this -- i found her car. >> were you concerned at how that might seem? a couple hours ago they're yelling at you as if you're a suspect and now you're saying "oh, here's her car." >> absolutely, but it was more important for them to process the car. i just wanted to know what happened. more than anything, that's what i was trying to figure out. >> he happens to just be driving down the street and runs into the car. if they didn't think he was involved before, they definitely do now. >> after i found the car, they took me back in saturday night. >> they want to talk to him again. >> i went to pick up chris at the police department. it wasn't until about 6:30 p.m. he just looked like someone - who'd been through the mill. he was very tired, very tired. just totally exhausted, mentally exhausted. >> i think i went into some sort of state where i shut down my emotions. 'cause you have to. i remember when my dad died, we

had to hold everything together, and it wasn't until they were putting his -- sorry. his body on the case at arlington that i broke down. so that was, like, two weeks later, but you have to hold it together to function. >> and you were trying to do the same thing then? >> yeah. >> in the days to come, chris johnson will be put on the hot seat, and his story will be put to the test. >> did i push her? did i hit her? >> chris, don't play those mind games. >> i don't know what i did. >> yes, do you. you absolutely do. >> did i choke her? tell me. 'cause i have asthma. and i have depression. i have diabetes. and i struggle with my weight. for us, covid is a whole different ballgame. in fact, you could be one of almost 200 million americans with a high risk factor that makes covid... even riskier.

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more paper being crumpled music: “i wish” by skee-lo boom! sound of paper balls landing in bins office workers cheering music stops why do we shoot baskets with paper balls? for the same reason we play scratchers from the california lottery. because a little play can make your day. logo scratches on in the days after andrea cincotta's death, chris johnson is repeatedly brought into the police department for questioning. >> the interrogation of chris was pretty brutal. >> in those first three days after andrea died, he was

interrogated intensively. he comes back in voluntarily without a lawyer. >> saturday morning, eight hours after i found the car, they took me back in saturday night. sunday morning, i had to go back in and go through it all again. >> that's 21 hours of interviews with chris johnson. authorities say at least some, if not all, of those interviews were recorded, but to this day, nobody can find any audio or video. >> those 21 hours, gone. >> the first videotape that we have is from monday, august 24th, which is three days after the murder. in some of the clips there's a video effect that looks like a black box covering the computer. >> she's laying on her left side in a fetal position. i touch her shoulder right here, and she's cold.

>> one of the very first questions they asked chris johnson was, have you guys had any recent fights? >> no big fights or arguments between the two of you for any reason at all? >> i don't get into fights. >> arguments. i'm not talking physical confrontations. >> i mean, not even verbal. >> detective holmes questions chris about not noticing that the closet door was closed until the middle of the night. >> during the course of the time that you were home, you must have gone past that closet at least five times, from your explanation to me, and you never noticed that that door was closed. >> no. >> but you woke up from basically asleep, but right away you noticed that the door was closed? >> mm-hmm. >> why is that? >> i don't know. >> sure you do. think about it. >> did you felt like a suspect? >> i felt like they thought i was a suspect, but i knew i had nothing to do with it. it seems like from the moment i called 911, they had their

mind made up. >> he was asked the same questions over and over and over again. >> did you place andi in that closet in that apartment? did you already know that andi had been placed in the closet? did you place andi in that closet? >> he keeps giving largely the same responses. >> i did not know that she was in the closet until i found her in the closet at 1:30 in the morning. >> detective cindy brenneman, who had interviewed chris earlier, then walks into the room. >> quite often, things will happen between friends, lovers, whatever, and things may get out of hand. you may not mean to hurt that person but you do accidentally, and if that's what really happened, don't sit there and go through all of this. say it was an accident, tell the truth. if what happened was an accident, tell me that was an accident. >> i have no idea what happened to her.

>> you kept saying over and over again, "i don't know what happened." >> right. i wanted to get that across to them that i had nothing to do with it, and i wanted to help them try to find out what happened. it sounds like you want me to say that -- >> i want you to say the truth, and if you know what the truth is -- >> -- i'm the cause of it, but it was an accident or i'm the cause of it, but it was deliberate -- >> if you're the cause of it, period. >> i don't know what happened. i really don't know what happened. >> did they ever tell you, hey, you can get a lawyer? >> no. >> did you ever feel like you were free to leave when they were questioning you? >> no. it was a small room, and there was like handcuffs bolted to the table, and there was someone always guarding the door. i wanted to use the bathroom once. i was escorted to the bathroom. >> it's clear that these

officers don't believe chris's version of the story. >> don't sit there and constantly deny things that it's so obvious that what you're saying is not true. >> if i admit to what happened, i would have to know what happened. >> a critical part of the interrogation is that in the previous days, one of the detectives told chris about what evidence he said was found at the scene. >> early on they kept saying things like, well, she was alive after 6:00, that my fingerprints were on her. and i'm just like, what? no. but they just kept repeating it and repeating it and repeating it. >> what was your immediate thought when you heard that? >> no, that that wasn't the case, but they kept engraining it and pushing it and pushing it for hours. >> when you got home, did you already know that andi was in the closet? >> no. >> and that's the truth?

>> yes. >> and you're sure about that? >> from what i know, yes. >> now, why are you defining that? why are you kind of qualifying, from what you know? >> because from what detective brennemen's partner said, my fingerprints were on her body and that her time of death was after i got home. but that does not jive with what i believe happened. >> then detective brenneman takes her turn in questioning chris. >> because i know that you know the truth. >> you knw the truth. you know what happened more than i do. what accident happened? >> tell me. you tell me. >> did i push her? did i hit her? >> chris, don't play those mind games. >> i don't know what i did. >> yes, you do.

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how many hours do you think you've slept over the past 24? >> i don't know for certain, but i would say three. >> there are seven hours of video showing the interrogation of chris johnson. by now he has already been interrogated more than 21 hours, and you can tell by watching the tape that he's becoming increasingly exhausted. >> he got very tired, and he sort of deteriorated into a crumbled up mess. >> i want to tell you what you want to hear, but i don't know. i don't know if i was home before her or after her. >> and then there is a turning point in the interrogation. it's around 7:15 p.m.

and this is in the 25th hour of talking to police over the last several days. >> i don't have a direct memory of it, direct memory of it. it's all very hazy, and it's just an image. i see me holding her. i see me holding her, and she slips out of my hand. >> and what happens when she slips out of your hand? >> she goes down to the floor. >> he started saying, well, i imagine that i was holding her and that she fell, and i have a vision, basically. >> and he proceeds to tell a story about how he's arguing and he brings his hand down and he hits into her. >> i see my arm like that. i go like that, and it hit her. >> and she hits her head and goes down to the ground. and he says, then i knelt over her, she wasn't breathing. >> can you get her breathing again? >> no.

>> at this point, chris johnson is incredibly subdued and almost inaudible. you can barely hear him. >> she's gone. >> okay. so, what else did you do then? >> fell on top of her, crying. and then i said, come back. >> this definitely is at a point where the detectives are like, okay, this guy's ready to confess. he's ready to give it up and let us know what happened. >> and then what happens? >> i must have put her in the closet. >> you talk about having a hazy image. >> they were saying she was lei after i got home, so the only way that something could have happened was maybe it was an accident. >> at this point, the detectives want him to solidify his version of events, so they tell him to write it down. >> you write down number one, right here, that you came into the house.

put it in your own words. >> chris writes down a three-page summarized statement explaining his story. >> you wrote, my hand hit her on the neck. she falls down. as she fell, her head hit the edge of the desk. i am crying. i keep saying come back. she's dead. i put her in the closet. >> well, they kept saying, your hand prints are on her neck. your hand prints are on your neck. i never would have hurt her. >> okay. put today's date on there? i'll let you get ready to go home and get some sleep. >> i was broken, i was a broken man by then. >> he's free to leave at that point, but he definitely is in loads of trouble. >> chris johnson just essentially signed a confession. >> i'm sure when they let him go that day, they were under the belief that he would be back in the future and he would be in custody for murder. >> was there ever a point where you were like, do i need to get

a lawyer? >> that happened when i finally was able to talk to a former boss of mine, and he said, you need to talk to a lawyer. but that was after all of the interrogations. >> did you think you'd be arrested? >> they had me pretty much thinking something must have happened and i just didn't remember it, because i had no memory of actually anything happening to her. so probably, yeah. >> but at that point, chris johnson discovers something crucial. he learns that the police had lied to him about pieces of evidence that they say they discovered at the crime scene. to begin, andrea had not in fact been killed after chris got home. >> rigor mortis had already started to really establish itself in her folded body, meaning a minimum 10 to 12 hours after death. >> she had also missed a planned lunch date she had with a friend. >> she didn't show up for the

lunch. she didn't call the friend, both of these very unusual. the friend calls and leaves a message on the answering machine. >> just checking to see that you're all right. it's 2:00 on friday. bye-bye. >> and that's when i realized they'd been lying to me the whole time. when they said that she was alive at 6:00, they were lying. >> the light bulb went off for you. >> yes. >> and what did you think once you realized that? >> i was in shock. how can they -- how can they get away with it? how can they do that? >> police had told him other things that were also not true. his fingerprints were in fact not found on andrea's body. and the autopsy does not match the details in his confession. >> he gives a version of events that doesn't match what happened to andrea cincotta. she didn't die from a blow to the head. >> andi cincotta was obviously strangled. that was clear from the very beginning. >> so, as he imagines it, he gets the details wrong. and it's not a small detail, it's the actual method of death.

>> so, for the person out there who might be watching this and saying, well, if you didn't do these things, why in the world would you write that down? why would you write these things? what would you say to them? >> if you had gone through what i went through for as long as i went through it and you had just found the woman you love dead, you're not in a good place. you're not. >> you watched all seven hours of the interrogation video. >> many times. >> what was your impression of it? >> that interrogation is shocking. you see how the police, using the tactics and methods that they did, they convinced chris that he had actually done this. the police badger and badger and badger and badger, lie to him, lie to him, lie to him. the only way out for chris was by saying, i must have stuffed her in the closet. >> eventually, chris is a broken man at the end.

he would have written down that the easter bunny was involved. >> you trust the police. the police don't lie. i was growing up, be respectful, and everything like that. so i literally had no reason to believe that they were lying to me. >> we're allowed to lie to suspects in this country during interrogations. >> how impactful were the lies here? >> well, what he's being told is scientific evidence that you cannot disprove, and that's pretty powerful stuff. >> i do not remember placing her in the closet. based on what i've been told, in this building, i can draw no other conclusion than i must have placed her in the closet. >> what do you make of this? >> what i saw on the video was a lot of things that they were doing that went over the line of what we now know shouldn't be done in order to get a reliable confession.

>> he's tired. he's under stress. he's been through trauma. he's been lied to. he's vulnerable. >> i see me holding her, and she slips out of my hand. i go down to the floor with her. >> so, do you find chris' story believable here? >> no. no. he's not making a confession. he's not even making an admission. he's saying that this is possible. this is something i maybe have a vision of or whatever along that line. >> confessions don't mean anything if they're not corroborated. a confession alone is not enough to charge someone with any crime, especially a murder. they have no probable cause to arrest chris at this point. >> which leads to the big question, if chris johnson did not kill andrea cincotta, then who did? >> he talked his way into her home alone. this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. hurry up dad! you've been in there forever! i'm trying! this cheap stuff is too thin!

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in the aftermath of andrea cincotta's death, her friending and family are left confused. >> some of the activity was just really hard to process. >> it was a punch in the gut. what do you mean she's dead?

that makes no sense. it made no sense. it was devastating. >> while police were interrogating chris, they are also processing the crime scene, looking for any forensic evidence that would point them to andrea's killer. >> they're going to be looking to obtain fingerprints and dna wherever possible. >> but they don't find any physical evidence that points to a particular culprit. they do, however, have what seems to be a promising lead. chris tells police that about four weeks before andrea cincotta was killed, she was trying to get rid of an old computer. >> andi was asking other staff members, hey, i have this old computer. i don't want to just throw it away. do you think someone could use it? or where could i donate it?" >> she sees this man outside who is working for a company called trash masters. >> he was at that apartment

complex installing mailboxes there. it's probable that she saw one of the trash master's trucks, assumed it was like a recycling or trash company, and she asked him whether they take used computers. >> and he says, i'll take the computer. >> and then i remember her coming to me one day and saying, oh, hey, don't worry about the computer. i found someone to give it to. >> andrea cincotta, at that point, actually let the man into her apartment all the way back into the bedroom to take this computer. >> she later tells kevin, her son, and her fiance, chris johnson, that she's given the computer to some unknown man. they didn't know who it was. they called him the computer guy. >> she said that chris and kevin were upset that she had let a stranger into the house while she was there by herself. >> so this guy with the computer -- >> mm-hmm. >> tell me about that. >> kevin was the one who really pieced it together that there was this computer guy that probably they need to look at.

>> this is a huge lead. this is a man who they don't know, who has been inside the house, who has had contact with andi cincotta. this is somebody that needs to be thoroughly checked out. >> the police tracked him down fairly quickly. >> they figure out that this is a man named bobby joe leonard. >> four days after andrea's murder, he had landed in jail in philadelphia, accused of assaulting his wife. charges that were later dropped. went up and talked to lice, the- bobby joe leonard in the philadelphia jail. bobby joe leonard said, i don't have anything to do with that murder in arlington. i didn't do anything to that lady. >> they did take his blood, they did take his fingerprints. didn't match anything at the scene. >> the police didn't take his clothes, didn't get a search warrant for his place. >> so this person that was once a suspect, they tell the family members that, no, he's actually the only person that's been cleared right now. >> the bobby joe leonard lead

doesn't go anywhere. meanwhile, andrea's death has received a surprising lack of attention from the media. >> the arlington police did not put out any kind of press releases when the death occurred. they never put any kind of public notice out that there'd been a homicide in arlington. >> at the time, i thought, i wonder if andi had a cerebral hemorrhage or fell and hit her head. >> i wondered what happened. my assumption was that it was a break-in. someone broke in and the robbery gone wrong, that sort of thing. >> while authorities said they had treated it like a homicide from the start, it wasn't until six months after her death that they officially ruled it a homicide. police reassured the community, saying, we do not have a serial killer on our hands. police also said, there is a finite possibility of suspects out there. that means they have a very

strong suspect in mind, and in this case, it's obviously chris johnson that they're focused on. >> but then a year later, bobby joe leonard, that "computer guy," commits a heinous crime that brings him back into focus. >> in 1999, bobby joe leonard kidnapped, raped, and left for dead a 13-year-old girl. >> he takes this teenage girl and chokes her into unconsciousness and puts her in a closet and leaves, and he thought that he had killed her. >> what's interesting here and what brings us back to andrea's case is the fact she was also placed in a closet to die. >> kevin cincotta actually attends the trial. and so does tom jackman, who's reporting on it for "the washington post." >> during the bobby joe leonard trial, a man came up to me and said, i believe this man killed my mother. and that was when i first met kevin cincotta and learned about the death of his mother, andrea cincotta. kevin was determined to get answers, to find out who killed his mother.

it's really not an unreasonable demand. >> bobby joe leonard was convicted of abduction, rape, and attempted murder of a 13-year-old girl, and he was sentenced to life in prison. >> the investigation goes cold, ice cold. chris johnson tries to move on with his life. >> i've always wanted to know what happened to her. >> but he's under a cloud of suspicion. >> i mean, it's always in the back offure mind that the police still think that i must have done it. >> 20 years pass. two decades later, suddenly it's a huge break in the case. >> it's shocking. >> he's been arrested? for what? >> you think, "oh, this is a movie, this is a tv show. this isn't real life." >> i was in the fight for my life. >> he's either a criminal genius, or he's innocent. and it's one of those two

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she was cold. there's nothing colder than a dead body. >> kevin was determined to get answers, to find out who killed his mother. >> i did not kill your mother. >> you confessed on video tape, you confess in the a written statement. >> the police still think that i must have done it. >> you know the truth more than i do. >> you tell me. >> did i push her? did i hit her? >> don't play these games. >> i don't know what i did! >> if chris johnson did not kill andrea, then who did? >> there's a career criminal

stepping up saying, i committed this murder. >> oh, my god, chris had nothing to do with it. >> when they said that, my jaw dropped. >> it was in the jury's hands, and you don't know what the jury's going to do. back in 1998, after chris johnson found his fiancee, andrea cincotta's body in their bedroom closet, he called 911. >> arlington 911. what is your emergency? >> uhh, i thought my girlfriend was missing. uh, i think she's dead. >> you think so? >> yeah. >> he was immediately the prime suspect. grilled by police for 28 hours over three days. they accused him of being the killer. >> and you know you know. we're just waiting for you to say it. be a man and admit the truth. >> chris says he was exhausted, and finally broke down under the pressure and based on evidence the police told him they had, said that he must have had something to do with it.

>> describe for me how you took her to the closet? >> took her to the closet? >> tel what's happening. >> you said i dropped her on the floor? >> and then what happens? >> i must have put her in the closet. >> but chris says he was under duress, so he gave a false confession. he told police he dropped andrea and she hit he that she died by strangulation. he wasn't charged, but the suspicions remained. >> i mean, it's always in the back of your mind. well, first of all, the police still think that i must have done it. >> chris johnson is left reeling. andrea's mysterious death in the closet goes unsolved, and the dream house they were building is put on hold. >> what are your most vivid memories of her? >> building the house. she was an amazing, powerful woman. sorry. there was one time we were

lifting a 12-foot tall wall and i realized i did not have a good grip. i looked at her, i knew that she could hold it while i changed my grip. i let go, regripped it, and we got that wall up. >> she was there for you? >> we were a team. partners. >> chr that had special significance for him, "you're gone." ♪ now, i know god has his re reasrea reasons ♪ ♪ but it's hard to see them ♪ >> it came out right at the time that she was killed. he talks about the times that you share, and then, you know, she's gone. ♪ the bad news is ♪ ♪ you're gone ♪ >> he says he still listens it today, but chris did slowly

begin to rebuild his life. a year after andrea's death, he had a chance meeting at a movie theater. >> i did a 100-mile bike ride and i went straight to the cinema. i didn't bother to go home and get showered or anything, and i was standing in line and this person was in front of me and he said, what film are you going to see? so i said, "'notting hill.'" and i said, "what film are you going to see?" and he said, "star wars." and he said, "i'll go and see 'notting hill' then. do you want to sit together?" i said, "okay." >> and the thing is, i felt it was okay to talk to her because she's tall and blonde and not my usual style. so, i figured nothing's ever going to happen. >> but something did happen. ginnie and chris started dating. >> what was it like when chris first told you, ginnie, that his fiance had been murdered? >> it was pretty much our first date, and i thought to myself, this is more traumatic than

anything that i've ever heard before. >> chris, why did you bring up the fact that your fiance was murdered on the first date? >> it seems like it's not something that you want to hide or whatever. totally upfront, this is who i am. this is what happened to me. >> i accepted it 100%. it never occurred to me ever that, you know, he might have had anything to do with it whatsoever. >> ginnie had no qualms about continuing the relationship, and that chance meeting on the movie line led to marriage. >> meanwhile, andrea cincotta's case goes cold despite initial suspicions about chris and another man, bobby joe leonard. >> a few weeks before she was murdered, andrea cincotta gave her computer to leonard, who was doing maintenance work at her condo. he had a criminal history, but police didn't find any evidence

to link him to the murder, and he was cleared. >> for years, the case seemed to be stalled. the victim's son, kevin, was pushing and pushing for them to come to some sort of solution in the case. >> andrea's only child, her son kevin was 24 when she was killed. >> kevin and i met, and he wants me to write a story about this case and the fact that no one has been charged in his mother's murder. >> kevin cincotta filed a petition to see his mother's autopsy report, but the court denied his request, saying the investigation was still active. >> around 2000, kevin says he thought chris was a great guy and he thought chris was wrong suspected by the police.

>> kevin, he was very supportive. he asked did i have anything to do with it. i told him absolutely not, and that was it. >> but over the years, chris and kevin had drifted apart. and then in 2018, 20 years after the murder, kevin calls chris asking to get together. >> i'll have the chicken salad. dressing on the side please. >> gyro salad. no tomato, no onion. >> the subject came up as he presented it was the 20th anniversary of her death is coming up, and that's how it started out. >> what chris doesn't know is kevin is wearing a wire, because he now thinks that chris is responsible for his mother's death. kevin tells chris he's seen the police file, and now has a new take on the case. >> what would you think if you were me? wouldn't you be at least a little suspicious? >> i could understand where you're coming from. >> imagine this was your mom. >> but you know me. or you knew me. >> yeah. >> chris adamantly denied kevin's assertion.

>> kevin, i'm going to say it again. i did not kill your mother, and i'm sorry that you think i did. >> but kevin keeps at chris. he confronts him with what he said in the interrogation. >> chris, i'm sorry, but you confessed on videotape. you confessed in a written statement. >> did you see the videotape? >> yes. chris, there's no doubt that the police bungled this case, introduced false information, and that false information -- >> deluded me. >> yeah. >> and i wasn't getting any sleep. >> yeah. but that doesn't mean that you didn't do it, because you did do it. >> how did that conversation leave you feeling? >> i was really hurt. i was like, i wonder if he was wearing a wire? because of the way he was asking the questions and everything like that. >> so when you found out, it sounds like you weren't that surprised. >> no. i feel sorry for kevin. >> the case did sort of lose

steam, but in arlington, the police are still trying to figure out a way to try to solve it, and a new cold case detective comes onto the case. >> detective ortiz is part of the cold case unit. she is revisiting andreas cincotta's death. >> the detective goes to see leonard at wallens ridge state priso. it was a super max prison on a mountaintop in virginia. >> after years of denying any role in andrea cincotta's murder, bobby joe leonard has a shocking new story to tell. >> apparently, bobby joe leonard had found god, and he decided he was going to come clean with respect to andrea cincotta. felon stepping up and saying, "i committed this murder." >> somebody said they would pay me $5,000 to do it. >> so who did bobby joe leonard say hired him? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it.

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bobby joe leonard is ready to talk with detectives. >> apparently, bobby joe leonard had found god, and he decided he was going to come clean with respect to andrea cincotta. >> but first, he wants to make a deal. >> he says, i want you to promise me that you won't seek the death penalty if i tell you what happened to andrea cincotta. >> leonard is already serving a life sentence for the rape and attempted murder of a 13-year-old. >> at the next meeting, detective ortiz came back with a prosecutor and met with

bobby joe leonard, and said, oh, you've got the death penalty off the table. >> with the death penalty off the table, bobby joe leonard confessed to the murder of andrea cincotta, but then he said something no one saw coming. he says he was hired to do it. >> leonard said, "yeah, i did it. i killed andi because somebody said they would pay me $5,000 to do it. >> bobby joe leonard tells the police he had gotten the computer from andrea cincotta, taken it home, and that he'd then gotten a phone call from her checking on the computer. >> and bobby joe leonard said, i am actually having some problems with the computer. so andrea, according to bobby joe leonard, hands the phone to chris because he built the computer. >> and then, mr. leonard tells detective ortiz, that same person with that same phone number on our caller i.d. called me a day or two later. >> leonard said the caller identified himself as, like, the boyfriend of andrea cincotta. the voice sounded like an older

white male. chris was 36 at the time. >> the white guy says, i want you to come. i want you to get rid of her. and leonard says, i finally said to the white guy, are you saying you want me to kill her? and that the man says yes. and he promised me $5,000 would be left in the closet of their bedroom. >> leonard says that he said, of course, i'll do that. sight unseen, no down payment, never met the person, this caller. >> leonard never mentioned chris by name. he didn't know his name. >> the police are intrigued by leonard's story. remember, they had initially suspected chris johnson, so they set up a sting. >> they're basically trying to corroborate bobby joe leonard's story of what occurred, so they send a undercover officer, a female, to say that she is a family member of bobby joe leonard, and she tells

chris that he owes bobby joe leonard some money. >> good morning, mr. johnson. >> how are you? >> i'm good. i'm kin to bobby, bobby leonard. my family's in a need of money in a bad way. bobby leonard said you owe him money from something from a long time ago. >> who? >> bobby leonard. he said, just find mr. johnson, that mr. johnson will be able to help us out. that you owe money from before? >> i don't owe him any money. >> as you're hearing this, what are you thinking? >> well, i'm scared. this is as i'm walking out the door, what, 6:30 in the morning. it's dark out, and i'm being confronted at my gate. >> but chris did wonder, since he once had been considered a suspect, if maybe the police were behind it. >> i was trying to figure out how they came up with this. >> two weeks later, chris is approached again. this time, chris says, by a tall intimidating man, who said he

was bobby joe leonard's brother. >> how you doing mr. johnson? >> not too well. how are you? who are you? >> good. name's tony. >> i think you know why i'm here, on behalf of my brother, bobby. >> actually, no, i don't know why you're here. >> okay. well -- were you going to pay my brother the money? >> first of all, i need my lawyer, okay? in case you're arlington county police. there's not enough evidence for you to prove to me who you are. >> okay. well, i'm definitely not the police. so, obviously, there was something that went on with you and my brother. >> there wasn't. after dealing with the girl, and we were all on edge. >> oh, my god, i was absolutely scared out of my mind. these people are going to be hounding us, and chris had nothing to do with it.

>> after those two stings proved unsuccessful, i would definitely go back and re-interview bobby joe leonard and let him know that we've got no proof of this and ask him again if he has any proof. >> leonard had nothing but his own words to corroborate that he'd been hired by an older white man. >> that didn't stop law enforcement from moving ahead with the case. still, a few years go by, and pthey convene a grand jury. and in november of 2021, there is a stunning development. chris johnson is indicted for murder for hire. chris is arrested outside his front door as he heading for work. >> i was in shock. i mean, what is this? >> the arrest made the local nightly news. >> arlington county police say two men have been charged in connection to the 1998 homicide of a woman in the colonial village neighborhood. 59-year-old 59-year-old james christopher johnson and 53-year-old bobby joe leonard. >> i couldn't believe it. i just couldn't believe it.

i could not believe that they would arrest him. for what? >> they tell you that you're charged with murder for hire, that the claim is that bobby joe leonard, you paid him $5,000 to kill andrea. >> it's ridiculous. i was racking my brain. how in the world did they come up with this? >> i certainly expected that bobby joe leonard would be responsible for it. it fits his m.o. but it was certainly a shocking development to see that chris johnson was being accused of orchestrating it. >> after hearing about the indictment, kevin cincotta said it was the happiest day of his adult life. >> kevin finally felt like, now some justice is being done for my mother. someone is finally being held responsible. >> but it makes no sense to chris johnson and his attorneys. >> chris was the only person police ever had an interest in prosecuting. >> did mistakes made at the crime scene affect the investigation? >> they put the body into a superglue cabinet. >> the police lost any ability

to get the touch dna that was likely all over her throat. >> and why is bobby joe leonard telling people he expects to be pardoned? >> bobby joe leonard called his girlfriend. >> the governor called and said that by next week, you could be walking out of here. >> they're going to cut me a deal and i'm going to be home soon. ng. -expensive. okay, well that too. so, we switched to bargain detergent, but we ended up using three times as much and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. mhm. they are. thanks honey. you suck at folding. oh, i know. do 3x the laundry and get a tide clean. it's got to be tide. after years on the battlefield and multiple concussions, migraine attacks followed me home. it got so bad, that i curled up in a dark closet to block everything out ...even my kids. that was the day i asked for nurtec. nurtec is the only medication

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after he was arrested, chris spent nine days in jail and was then released on bond. he was confined to home detention. >> this is where i spent 11 months of my life. >> wow. i stretched my arms across. there's not a lot of room here. you had to spend 11 months, really a year of your life, within this room, within this house. what was that like? >> couldn't even walk around the neighborhood or anything like that. my barrier was that gate right out the front. >> i met with chris right after he was charged. i became personally convinced that chris was absolutely innocent of this charge. >> why?

>> the first thing you look at in any type of situation like this is motive. why could this have happened? has there been any domestic violence between andi and chris? there was none. >> did chris have anything to gain in any of this? >> there was no financial benefit to chris whatsoever because of andi's death. >> all her life insurance, any money that there was, went directly to the son, as it should. >> even the condominium that they lived in actually went to kevin. >> salvato reached out to attorney libbey van pelt to join chris' defense team. van pelt is an ivy league-educated former federal prosecutor. what did you think when you started looking into the case? >> how did this case get charged? >> i think sometimes as lawyers, we look at cases like these. we say like, yeah, i don't get it. is there something more here that i'm not seeing? >> yes.

i was like, frank, man, there's something you're not telling me. right? i didn't believe him. i didn't believe him. i looked at every page of the discovery myself. >> so why did you want to get involved? >> i didn't want to get involved. i was doing a lot of other things, and frank said, libbey, this is an opportunity to help save a man's life. >> also recruited for the defense former fbi agent daniel reilly, who is used to working for the prosecution. >> i worked for the fbi for almost 30 years. i've never worked for a defense attorney during my life. you know, if anything, they were not real happy with me most of the time. >> but this time will be different. reilly believes there were real problems with how the crime scene was processed. >> what stood out to me, first of all more than anything else, was a lack of concern about trace evidence. they didn't do any collection of hair and fiber evidence. bedclothing was recovered, seized, put into an evidence bag. but nothing was ever done with it.

>> unfortunately the police decided in this case to superglue andrea cincotta's body. >> superglue typically is used to find fingerprints on nonporous surfaces like glass, not on a human body. >> in my 22 years of law enforcement experience, i've never done superglue on a victim's body. >> in this case, you're contaminating the crime scene with a glue. that's going to layer over microscopic items of forensic evidence. >> the police lost any ability to get the touch dna that was likely all over her throat. the police would have had that right away. they would've had bobby joe leonard. >> i would grade this particular crime scene at a "d." >> private investigator philip becnel was hired by the defense. he spoke to ten of leonard's alleged victims and looked in his criminal history. >> we know he strangled and sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl and left her in the closet.

>> becnel found a pattern in the way that leonard committed his crimes. >> bobby joe leonard went for the throat. he did that again and again and again. the most impactful victim's story for me was the person who bobby joe raped in prison. >> he was convicted of sodomizing, on multiple occasions, his cellmate. >> like any inmate doing hard time, bobby joe leonard is looking for a way out. so why would he admit to murdering andrea cincotta? >> a lot of people have asked me what bobby joe had to gain. but i think the better question is what he had to lose. and the answer is nothing. >> bobby joe is locked down 23 hours a day. that's his life is those four walls. this cold murder that he did in fact commit was the only chip that he had to play to better

his circumstances. >> the day after the cold case detective left, bobby joe leonard made a really interesting call to his girlfriend. >> an inmate at the virginia department of corrections, wallens ridge state prison. >> leonard makes up a dramatic story about his conversations with detectives. >> i'm paraphrasing -- baby, i've got great news. the governor of virginia and some other people came down to see me and they're going to cut me a deal. >> he says, you sign this agreement right here, the governor's office is going to be able to print out a pardon for you by the end of the week. he said that by next week, we're pretty sure that you could be walk out the front door if you agree to this. >> leonard continues to lie and says the deal is so good he's going to be given a full pardon. >> the governor's pardon just point blank says we're pardoning you for all the crimes that you were convicted of.

>> at trial, i was worried. chris johnson, he's a normal dude, hasn't spent a lifetime manipulating people. and then you have bobby joe leonard, who is charming, who can talk his way in and out of things. >> who are the jury going to believe? i was just so, so scared. >> it's the big unknown. i was in the fight for my life. i'm getting vaccinated with prevnar 20®. a pfizer vaccine! so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. i'm asking about prevnar 20® because there's a chance pneumococcal pneumonia could put me in the hospital. if you're 19 or older, with certain chronic conditions like copd, asthma, diabetes, or heart disease or are 65 or older, you may be at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. prevnar 20® is approved in adults to help prevent infections from 20 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. in just one dose. don't get prevnar 20® if you've had a severe

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in september 2022, the trial comes. >> you find yourself at an arlington courthouse facing trial. >> it's scary. i was in the fight for my life. >> there were a number of folks that were there to support

chris johnson -- his family, his wife -- and then there were a number of folks there to support kevin. >> our main focus at trial was two things. showing the jury that there was no evidence in this case, number one, and number two, that the prosecutor's theory of this case made no sense. >> libbey van pelt did a very engaging opening statement, basically saying that chris could not possibly have arranged for the murder of this fiancee that he loved so much. >> when they brought kevin cincotta to the stand, that part was heartbreaking, because you could see that there was love there and you could see that kevin had been terribly, terribly hurt by the murder of his mother. >> remember, kevin had been pushing for years to move the case forward and get justice for his mother. >> kevin testified that when he was at the funeral home, he

overheard chris standing at andrea's casket saying, "i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry." >> kevin is wondering, what is he sorry for? what did you do? why are you sorry? >> i think that it would be entirely natural for an innocent man under those circumstances who is bereaved, to be sorry that he wasn't there to protect her. >> they also brought kevin in to talk about a sting operation that he had done with chris. >> did there come a point that evening that you did laundry? >> that evening? yes, i did the laundry. >> did there come a point that you vacuumed? >> yes, i did vacuum. >> but initially chris said he didn't vacuum. so to kevin, the fact that he's said in 2018 he actually did vacuum, that was a glaring inconsistency. >> kevin felt that that was an incriminating thing. the rug had those marks that are made by a vacuum cleaner, and

now he admitted that he was the one that vacuumed. even if it wasn't him that committed the murder, he could have been cleaning up after bobby joe leonard. >> but the contents of the vacuum bag were never tested. >> the vacuum bag was stored away into evidence and not opened for two decades. i opened the bag at trial, and it was just a poof of dust. >> the prosecution went as far as to say the vacuum bag was a red herring and the failure to test it had no impact on the case, and they did admit that police could have done a better job processing the crime scene. but they insisted that this case wasn't about the crime scene, it was about chris hiring leonard to kill andi. the prosecutors suggested that perhaps chris had some motive to want the beach house all to himself, but it came out at trial that only chris was on the deed. >> after kevin cincotta got off the stand, bobby joe leonard was supposed to be the next witness. i believe that the prosecution thought that leonard was their

star witness. >> so, we're all waiting for the big moment when leonard comes into the courtroom, and he won't come in. >> there was a flurry of activity, and the trial was stalled for a while, and that was because leonard was saying, i'm not going to testify unless i get a concession. >> we all waited for the entrance of bobby joe leonard. he didn't come out. >> bobby joe leonard is a manipulator, and what he wanted to do was call the shots at this point. so bobby joe leonard says that he will not testify against chris unless they agree to put a request in to move him to a better prison. >> this raised the question, was this demand the real reason leonard told authorities his story? >> so, the prosecutors agree to make this deal, and leonard walks into the courtroom to give his story for the first time publicly. >> leonard described in an excruciating detail about how he killed andi.

he said that they had a casual, nice conversation, and then that he attacked her. >> i just said, before i leave, could i bother you for something to drink? and she said, sure. and she came back with a soda in her hand. as she reached out to hand me the soda, i just lunged towards her with both of my hands and just grabbed her by the throat and just choked her down to the ground. she didn't really offer any type of resistance or anything. >> he's not expressing any remorse. >> he casually described it like almost like he was enjoying telling every single detail. it was appalling. >> there's a huge problem with the way leonard describes this scene. he says she didn't struggle. that is absolutely contradicted by the evidence, because she had bruising all over her forearms. this woman fought, she fought for her life. >> during bobby joe's testimony, one of the ways he said he identified that this caller was

andi's boyfriend was he said he had caller i.d., and that became a point at trial. >> leonard said, i knew it was the boyfriend of andrea cincotta because it was the same number. >> how did you know that, mr. leonard? i saw it on the caller id. unfortunately for mr. leonard, we tracked down a witness that knew mr. leonard pretty well. >> the defense brought leonard's ex-wife, francis hudson, to the stand, and they asked her point blank, did you have caller i.d.? and she said, no, we didn't have caller i.d. >> but hudson also testified that she had moved out a few weeks before the murder because leonard had choked her. so the prosecution made the point that leonard could have gotten caller i.d. after she left. >> the prosecution admitted that there was no forensic evidence tying leonard and chris to a murder-for-hire plot.

they claimed it was because too much time had passed to collect phone records and other verifying information. >> bobby joe leonard is a killer and a liar. he's had a lot of victims in his life. and this trial is bobby joe leonard attempting to add one more victim to his list, chris johnson. >> but the prosecution insists that chris johnson is the liar, and they're about to present the jury with a shocking new theory. >> when they said that, my jaw dropped. now, there's skyrizi. ♪things are getting clearer.♪ ♪i feel free to bare my skin yeah, that's all me♪ ♪nothing and me go hand in hand♪ ♪nothing on my skin♪ ♪that's my new plan♪ ♪nothing is everything♪ achieve clearer skin with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin, even at 4 years. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪i see nothing in a different way♪ ♪it's my moment so i just gotta say♪

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this trial took a tremendous toll on chris.

he didn't sleep. he would come in drawn, exhausted. everything about this trial drained chris to, like, a nub of what he was before this. >> who are the jury going to believe? are they going to believe our side? or are they going to believe the prosecution side? and i was just so, so scared all the time. >> beyond the testimony of bobby joe leonard, the case hinges on a key piece of evidence. >> they had this long videotaped interrogation, and the prosecution wanted to play it for the jury, even though it's hours of him denying it. the prosecution said, we want to show the jury that chris johnson is a liar. we want to show them that he repeatedly denied this and then admitted it. >> i actually think that it didn't do what the prosecution had hoped it would do. the jury seemed very upset. they seemed upset with the police, and they seemed to gather more empathy towards chris. >> and then the prosecution introduced a surprising new

theory, that this wasn't a false confession at all, that it was a strategy by chris johnson to mislead the authorities. >> they claim that you made the false confession to derail the investigation, to sort of take the light off of bobby joe leonard. >> when they said that, my jaw dropped. i'm confessing to something to derail their investigation of me doing something? it just doesn't make sense. >> let's take that for a mental spin. that means that in order to deflect suspicion from the hitman, he brought suspicion on himself. to get away with the murder, he's making sure the police think that he did it. who does that make sense to? >> you gave the closing. >> i did. >> how much pressure did you feel? >> i've done a lot of closings. this was the worst one for me

ever. no matter how cool you try to portray yourself, how you try to be calm, when you have a client like chris johnson that you really believe in, there's an enormous amount of pressure. >> that was it. that was the moment it was in the jury's hands. and you don't know what the jury's going to do. >> after the closing was done, we went to get a quick bite to eat. >> everybody else was like, they left. they thought, well, it's going to be at least a couple hours. juries can last a couple days. >> came back into the courthouse about 30 minutes later, the deputy came out and said, verdict. heart skips a few beats, and then you think, it's been a sure. >> and i will say, in all my experience, i have never seen a jury come back that quickly, ever. >> i did not want to hope, but part of me was like, that was really quick.

>> a 24-year ordeal that had upended chris johnson's life had all come down to this. >> this was the moment that decided everything. chris certainly looked nervous. his body was braced for a blow. >> my heart was in my throat. i had no idea what decision they were going to make. >> they gave it to the clerk. the clerk said, not guilty. it was -- it was a relief. >> i was just in floods and floods of tears. i couldn't -- i just couldn't believe it. the jury had -- had made the right decision. >> went becoack and and we were sobbing. everyone in the courtroom was emotional.p>> i was the jury fo chris johnson murder for hire trial.

when we started deliberations, i could tell from the room that everyone was saying, oh, yeah, this is not even a case. why did they even bother bringing the case? >> if you don't believe bobby joe leonard, then the case is over, because he's the one saying, i killed her, but i did it at chris johnson's behest." >> one of the trial jurors in this case asked us not to use his last name. >> we were aware that bobby joe leonard was offered certain things in exchange for his testimony. you know, is there any reasonable doubt here with what i'm hearing? there were some reasonable doubts. >> you don't hire someone to kill someone whom you've never met. and out of all the bobby joe leonard testimony, he never claimed that they met. i feel like that was, for me, the important detail that gave reasonable doubt. and when we watched that interrogation video, the prosecutors thought maybe that chris was intentionally lying to the police, but none of us really felt that that was a compelling case. >> it seemed to me that the

police were just kind of hammering home what they thought to be the case. they weren't taking his initial statements for face value. so, it was kind of pushing him to get to another answer. >> we think that it painted chris as a sympathetic character. >> at the end of this trial, the prosecutors walked over, hands outstretched. i said, you prosecuted an innocent man. you bankrupted him in every way that you can bankrupt a man -- emotionally, spiritually. i didn't even want to shake their hand. >> i think prosecutors brought this case in the hopes that maybe they would catch lightning in a bottle. >> prosecutors have more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in america. it is an awesome power to be a prosecutor, and with it comes an

awesome responsibility. >> one month later, bobby joe leonard received an additional life sentence for admitting to killing andrea. >> as for kevin cincotta, he declined to did an on-camera interview with abc news in time for air, but he provided us with a detailed account of the reasons he is still convinced chris johnson is guilty of murder for hire, including what he calls suspicious behavior and discrepancies in chris' story and information he believes that bobby joe leonard could only have received from chris johnson. >> kevin toll us at bobby joe leon leonard's sentencing, he asked for kevin's forgiveness. kevin told us, "i don't forgive him, but i believe him." >> after his acquittal, chris johnson is again working on the dream home he and andi were building together. >> i definitely feel that she is here every time i come down here. i had to finish it for her as

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almost 25 years after the death of andrea cincotta, the home they began to build together is on its way to completion without her. >> this was andrea and mine's dream, to build a house together. >> i look around it and i see memories of andrea all over it. it's definitely a memorial to her. >> chris is a now free man, but the decades-long ordeal has left its mark. it sounds like you're not the same person you were before all of this happened. >> no, absolutely not.

i used to be a lot more trusting. i trusted everyone, trusted the police, and now, my eyes have been opened. >> so, what do you want people to learn from this case? >> i want other people to also open their eyes. it can happen to anyone. if it can happen to chris johnson, it can happen to you or it can happen to someone you love. >> we've reached out to the prosecution team and the arlington county police department to comment on the criticisms raised by chris and his lawyers. they declined an interview, but the commonwealth's attorney of arlington county gave us this statement. "we hope that through the process we have helped bring some closure to ms. cincotta's family. however, i must respect the verdict of the jury. we prosecuted a tough case in the fairest way we could, and that's where i believe i should leave it." >> there is still a cloud over chris johnson, despite his being

found not guilty. there's still a cloud over him as to his nature, and his nature is so sweet. but i think people meeting him, if they found out, yes, he went through this trial, maybe they would look at him with suspicion in their hearts, and that is a travesty. >> this will never be over for kevin cincotta either. >> his mother was murdered. she was a single mom who had raised him and she supported him. then she's gone. what could be worse? and he just wants answers. >> it's been almost 25 years since her death. how do you remember her? >> every day. she cared a lot about the people in her life, and she was just someone you wanted to be with. >> if you could talk to her now, what would you say to her?

>> i'm sorry i wasn't there to protect her. we should point out tonight that chris johnson's lawyers tell us he plans to pursue a civil suit against the authorities while continuing to rebuild his life. that is our program for tonight. thank you for watching. i'm david muir, and from all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7news. ama: another day of cleaning up in the bay area. the latest storm brings drown more trees and causes flooding. we are not done yet. dan: good evening. dan:we did get a nice break from the rain most of the day but this dry spell will be brief. ama: let's get a look with spencer christian. spencer: briefer and briefer by the moment. a lot of green moisture showing up in the atmosphere right. -- right now. we still have a flood watch in effect until 10:00 sunday morning as the ground is so saturated. any additional rain could produce more flooding. let's take a look at the approaching storm on the exclusive abc 7 storm impact scale. level 1. we can expect showers, even downpours. the wettest area will be in the north bay. it will be breezy at times.